Since my arrival six months ago it has been a growing experience. Before and during my time at BKSM I served on a regular basis at the altar, however, that first Sunday when I actually set the table I quickly realized that I never touched the elements in such a way as that Sunday morning. Being at the altar and proclaiming the Gospel among the people of the congregation is such a special feeling.

Since St. John’s does not have a full-time interim priest, I am very blessed to give Morning Prayer approximately once a month where I prepare and give a sermon. I never viewed myself as a public speaker, but I enjoy the pulpit. I hope this does not come across as egotistical, but at that moment, looking out before the congregation, they become my people. I hold this privilege with honor and a great responsibility. I always say a little prayer to myself; that these are not my words, but the words of God. Enjoying the pulpit has been one of my best surprises where I can interpret the Scripture reading for the day. It is also a joy where I can share my insights and vision of the Gospel with the congregation.

Our parish also has a Spanish service that serves a small, but faithful group of people. Unfortunately, I do not speak Spanish, but with practice I am now able to follow along. This group of people has taught me so many rich traditions that I was able to experience during Advent. I was honored to be with a little Latino boy who had his first communion, and he was so very proud to become an Acolyte where I robed him for the first time in front of the congregation.

An aspect that truly started my call to this ministry is pastoral care. Pastoral care ministry is very dear to me because it holds so many surprises from one visit to another. When I awake every morning and go to my secular job I never know how my diaconal day may go, and what direction it will take me. Over Christmas I was asked to visit a couple who was on their way from Wisconsin to Texas. They spent the night in Wichita where the wife developed crushing chest pains and had to go to the hospital. I went to visit her just in time before they wheeled her to surgery to have a quadruple bypass surgery. I visited this couple several times while they were in the hospital and gave them communion.

They told me they ran out of gas on the turnpike and it took two hours to be on their way once again. So, they decided to spend the night in Wichita, otherwise they were planning to spend the night in a small town in western Oklahoma, which may have had a different outcome. The person who called me was a former classmate at BKSM, which speaks highly as to how the school not only trains us to be deacons and priests, but it also forms friendships and a network that reaches far and wide.

Each visit can have many blessings, not only for the people I visit, but for me as well.

This past year, I developed a chapter of Laundry Love, which was a learning experience. It took many months to organize and the ministry is still in its infancy, but every month it seems to grow. This past week we held our monthly session at a laundromat where patrons shared so many emotions with us and thanked us for our presence. Helping to organize outreach programs such as Laundry Love and others, it gives us as the church the opportunity to become the hands and feet of Christ for those individuals at that moment and time.

Obviously, there are meetings, planning and preparation that must be done before any service, but I try to serve from the heart and soul. Each service is unique and different in its own way, and at the end of the day I return home knowing that God has placed me exactly where I need to be, and for that I am eternally grateful.

﻿﻿The Bishop Kemper School for Ministry is a collaborative venture of the Episcopal Dioceses of Kansas, West Missouri, Nebraska and Western Kansas.It offers classes and programs to educate people for church leadership in both lay and ordained vocations.